HomeLight Trade-In™ and HomeLight Cash Offer™ launch in Texas

Today, we’re excited to announce we’re launching HomeLight Trade-In™ and HomeLight Cash Offer™ throughout the state of Texas to transform how local residents buy and sell homes. The expansion is fueled by a $100 million credit facility from Credit Suisse, one of the world’s leading financial service providers.

We’ve all seen it: the past decade of innovation in real estate has focused entirely on making it easier to search for the home of your dreams.

But that’s when reality hits: there’s been little, if any, innovation around the mechanics of actually buying or selling a property – the most complex and challenging part of the process. Millions of homeowners still face real estate’s largest catch-22: 

Sell first, and you risk being temporarily homeless.

Buy first, and lose out to more competitive buyers.

Do both and it’ll cost you thousands of dollars.

Worse yet, in today’s red-hot market, buyers are finding it’s nearly impossible to transact, as the Wall Street Journal recently reported. In some regions, homes are only on the market for hours before dozens of offers flood in, many of them all-cash. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way. In the past two years, HomeLight has built technology to make the process easier, all in the name of making buying and selling real estate simple, certain, and satisfying — and helping homebuyers and sellers compete and win. 

The future of buying and selling a home — available today.

The expansion of these financial offerings comes at a crucial time for homebuyers and sellers, as record-setting inventory shortages continue to fuel steep growth in home values and intense bidding wars in Texas and across the United States. HomeLight Trade-In™ and HomeLight Cash Offer™ make real estate transactions possible for countless individuals who otherwise wouldn’t be able to compete with traditional financing in today’s competitive real estate market. 

There are countless stories of homebuyers and sellers using our products to successfully transact — whether they’re upsizing from a 1-bathroom starter home for their family, looking for their retirement home, making a cross-country move with kids and animals, or simply upsizing a family home with kids underfoot.

The launch of these products comes at a crucial time in Texas’ red-hot real estate market: Austin bidding wars continue as some homes sell for 20% over asking price, nearly a third of Houston homes face bidding wars, and some Texas buyers have been forced to offer $300,000 over asking price. 

Here’s how it works: 

HomeLight Cash Offer™

HomeLight Cash Offer™ gives top agents and their clients the ability to make an all-cash offer on their next home, even if they need a mortgage. HomeLight Home Loans™ verifies the client’s income and assets to determine purchasing power, and once the client and their agent find a home, HomeLight makes an all-cash offer on the client’s behalf and holds the home until the client secures financing. As soon as the client’s loan closes, HomeLight sells the home to the client at the purchase price, plus a small program fee.

HomeLight Trade-In™

HomeLight Trade-In™ solves another important issue that agents and homeowners face: the ability to buy and sell at the same time, while still capturing the full market value of their home. HomeLight purchases the individual’s home — typically for 90% of the home’s expected value — which frees up their equity when they need it before going through a full listing process. HomeLight then lists and sells the home on the market with the agent. If the home sells for more than HomeLight’s purchase price, the company pays the client the difference, less a small program fee.

By unlocking contingency-free transactions, both products have been effective in particularly competitive markets. Based on transactions closed since December 2019, HomeLight Trade-In™ homes have sold for 5% above valuation, closed 5x faster, and helped clients save 3.5% on the purchase price of their new home compared to the traditional method of listing on the market. Offers powered by HomeLight Cash Offer™, meanwhile, have saved home buyers up to 4.4% compared to offers with a loan. Now, top agents across Texas can use HomeLight Trade-In™ and HomeLight Cash Offer™ products to accelerate their commission and deliver an exceptional experience to their clients.

The future of transactions, powered by speed and certainty 

The past year has been unprecedented for our industry. For the homebuyers and sellers looking to transact, it’s been a year of uncertainty and stress as competition for homes has skyrocketed in the wake of the pandemic. 

Buying or selling a home is one of the largest transactions any of us will make in our lives. We’re proud to offer a solution to help homebuyers and sellers transact with speed, certainty, and simplicity. 

Ready to sign up for HomeLight Trade-In™ and HomeLight Cash Offer™ to deliver standout experiences to your clients and help them compete? Visit www.homelight.com/agents to apply for access.